Sunday, May 5, 2013

Cop out: New York pays more police in retirement than to patrol our streets (The New York Post) and Other Sunday, May 5th, 2013 NYC Police Related News Articles

Sunday, May 5th, 2013 — Good Morning, Stay Safe

 

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Cop out
New York pays more police in retirement than to patrol our streets — yet pols do nothing to address our skyrocketing pension costs

By Nicole Gelinas — Sunday, May 5th, 2013 ‘The New York Post’
(Op-Ed / Commentary)

(Edited for NYPD pension issues) 

 

NOTE:  The asinine two lead sentences, a knock on one of the NY Post competitors that had entirely nothing to do this subject, were removed. - Mike

 

We now have more retired cops than active police officers, and the multibillion-dollar bill for their pension and health benefits harms our ability to hire new ones.

 

In December 2001, a month before Bloomberg took office, New York had 39,297 cops. Today, the city has 34,510 to protect us — and by the time the mayor leaves office in eight months, we’ll have 34,483 — a cut of nearly 5,000 pairs of eyes.

 

Yet spending has increased. During Bloomberg’s final year, city will spend $8.7 billion on the police department, nearly double the 2002 figure and more than three times the rate of inflation.

 

How’s that possible? It’s mostly because pension and health benefits cost ever more. The $4.3 billion taxpayers will spend on salaries and wages for police officers (and a contingent of administrative staff) this year has only just kept up with inflation over the Bloomberg years. By contrast, the pension budget has quadrupled — from $1.1 to $4.4 billion.

 

We’ll spend more on cops’ benefits this year than on salaries. That’s partly because as of 2010 (the last number for which the secretive police pension fund has released details), the city was supporting 44,634 retired cops, up from 34,245 when the mayor took office.

 

Benefit spending has taken a toll on other city services, too. In 2002, the city had 7,821 uniformed sanitation workers, for example. Next year, it will have 7,271.

 

But the risk for the Police Department is particularly potent. Before his death, former mayor Ed Koch reminisced that he had a difficult time controlling crime in the mid-’80s because the city just couldn’t instantly add officers after the brutal cutbacks of the previous decade. The Police Department must find, recruit, vet and train officers; it doesn’t happen overnight.

 

If crime rises or if the next police commissioner can’t manage the department as effectively as Ray Kelly has done, the next mayor will be in the same position.

 

The Boston bombings were a reminder that cops must not only solve crimes and answer residents’ complaints, but also prevent terror. In the days after the bombings, theatergoers were comforted to see uniformed officers outside most theaters — scanning the waiting crowds for suspicious people or packages.

 

Mayor Bloomberg fancies himself a national leader, and he’s done a great job of changing the national debate on gun control.

 

On the issue of pension and health benefits suffocating other types of government spending, though, the mayor has been a national leader — in the wrong direction.

 

In state and local governments across the country, governments are budgeting more dollars but deciding less, because employee benefits are on autopilot.

 

Today, pensions make up, on average, 4.6% of state and local revenues.

 

However, if governments earn only 4% return on their investments over the next decade, pension contributions will rise in 10 years to 14.5% of revenue, becoming the third-largest slice of many state budgets, after schools and health care.

 

They’re already there in New York. The $8.2 billion the city will spend on pension benefits next year is 16% of our budget (not including state and federal grants that go to stuff like Medicaid, spending we can’t use for pensions).

 

Add in health costs for public workers and retirees, and New York is spending $17 billion — or 34% of the budget. That’s double the share it was when Bloomberg took office.

 

As Bloomberg himself has noted, “We now spend more on pensions than we do on the operating budget of the NYPD, the Fire Department and the Sanitation Department combined.” For the 2013 budget, he said, “every penny in personal income tax we collect will go to cover our pension bill.”

 

Bloomberg’s failure to control these costs is the weakest part of his legacy. Council Speaker Christine Quinn, meanwhile, signed off on Bloomberg’s budgets — without raising the alarm on these soaring costs. Former Comptroller Bill Thompson wants to hire 1,000 more cops — but with what money?

 

With stop and frisk, the Democratic candidates say crazy things — with Comptroller John Liu, for example, saying he’d simply abolish the practice — leaving cops, apparently, to wonder whether the person they’ve just arrested is packing heat.

 

But with the cost of police pension and benefit costs, the silence is even crazier.

 

Adapted from “Government Crowded Out” published by the Manhattan Institute’s Center for State and Local Leadership, where the author is a senior fellow.

 

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Chief of Department Philip Banks on  ‘Uniform Appearance’

Fashion police

By BRAD HAMILTON — Sunday, May 5th, 2013 ‘The New York Post’

 

 

That’s some shabby police work.

 

NYPD brass are asking cops to clean up their act, amid concerns about tattered shirts, frayed pants and unsightly jackets.

 

Chief of Department Philip Banks called a meeting on the problem April 16, when supervisors were asked for ideas on getting the troops to look spiffier, police sources said.

 

“He wants to set a tone,” said one supervisor. “Image is 90 percent of our job.

 

“If you respond to a vehicle accident and you’re disheveled, that goes a long way to how people see your professionalism.”

 

A handout on the meeting stated the goal was “to improve overall uniform appearance without having to resort to discipline.”

 

It noted that some officers had trouble purchasing garments because parking is hard to find at police headquarters in lower Manhattan and that private stores with uniforms have “limited hours.”

 

Suggested ideas included getting cops to shop online, creating a video that would show a good-looking uniform and launching a marketing campaign.

 

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New York Area Races Increase Security After Boston Marathon Bombing
New Jersey Marathon and Long Island Marathon Add New Security Measures

By WILL JAMES — Sunday, May 5th, 2013 ‘The Wall Street Journal’ / New York, NY

 

 

The municipalities hosting two New York City-area marathons Sunday will add police and clamp new security measures on runners and spectators following last month's bombing at the Boston Marathon.

 

The New Jersey Marathon and the Long Island Marathon, each expected to draw thousands of runners and tens of thousands of their supporters, are the first major races in the region since two men allegedly set off bombs April 15 in Boston, killing three and injuring more than 200.

 

The up-to-30,000 spectators expected at the finish line of the New Jersey Marathon, in the City of Long Branch, will have to leave bags behind as they pass through police checkpoints along fenced-in paths, said Jason Roebuck, the city's director of public safety.

 

"We're not allowing any bags of any sort inside the viewing area, which is why we put the fencing up," Mr. Roebuck said. "Otherwise, it's just a free-for-all and people walk all over the place...."

 

The more-than-11,000 runners expected at the starting line, at Monmouth Park in the Borough of Oceanport, will have to put their belongings in clear plastic bags provided by the marathon's organizers, said Michael Mahon, the borough's mayor. Trucks will transport the items to the finish line, he said.

Bomb-sniffing dogs and police equipped with radiation-detecting devices will patrol the Long Island Marathon, and the 20,000 or so finish-line spectators will be limited to carrying small bags such as purses and camera cases, said Inspector Kenneth Lack, a spokesman for the Nassau County Police. "This is all precautionary, all due to the tragedies in Boston," he said. "And there's no reason to believe there's any threat in Nassau County."

 

Only participating runners—about 8,000—will be allowed at the starting line of the marathon, near Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and shorter races scheduled throughout the weekend, he said.

 

Participants and spectators will also have to park farther than usual from the events, and traffic will be diverted more widely than in the past.

 

 

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Sunday, May 5th, 2013 ‘The New York Daily News’ Editorial:

 

Playing games with the law
A full-fledged casino sponsored by the state is operating at Aqueduct in Queens

 

 

A gambling operation in Queens is raking in $1 million an hour in bets on roulette, craps and baccarat — and the NYPD and Queens District Attorney Richard Brown are standing idly by.

The explanation for their tolerance is that Gov. Cuomo and legislative leaders are playing the role of pit bosses over gaming that is of questionable legality but has been sanctioned nonetheless by New York’s money-hungry elected officials.

 

 

Excerpt; desired to read the article in its entirety, go to:

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/playing-games-law-article-1.1334713

 

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Michael Bloomberg's Assault on the 2nd Amendment

 

NRA's public enemy No. 2: Michael Bloomberg
To many of the 6,000 gun owners in the crowd, Bloomberg represents an East Coast elite, "nanny state" philosophy.
By Gregory Korte — Sunday, May 5th, 2013 ‘USA Today’

 

 

HOUSTON — If there's a man who can rival President Obama as the National Rifle Association's No. 1 target of scorn, it's New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

 

Bloomberg's name was taken in vain repeatedly as NRA leaders and GOP politicos attacked Obama and the media. The billionaire three-term mayor has used his personal fortune to fund Mayors Against Illegal Guns — and has threatened to spend more to defeat NRA-backed politicians.

 

The NRA's chief lobbyist, Chris Cox, accused Obama and Bloomberg of scheming about how to exploit the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary last year.

 

"Where we see tragedy, Barack Obama and Michael Bloomberg see opportunity," he said. "While we pray for God to comfort those suffering unimaginable pain, they rush to microphones and cameras, gather in war rooms on Capitol Hill and scheme about how to use that suffering to push their political agenda."

 

To many of the 6,000 gun owners in the crowd, Bloomberg represents an East Coast elite, "nanny state" philosophy that not only wants to regulate guns, but also soda, tobacco and salty food.

 

"Mayor Bloomerg should not dictate national policy on guns — or soda pop," said former U.S. representative Asa Hutchinson, who told the approving crowd that he's running for governor of Arkansas.

 

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin said Bloomberg was "bitterly clinging to the notion that the government must control the people in all aspects of life."

 

Bloomberg has armed police bodyguards, she said. "It's the old what's right for me is not right for thee," she said.

 

Then, noting that Bloomberg wanted to regulate the display of tobacco products, she took a can of chewing tobacco out of her back pocket and threatened to take a dip.

 

Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns has emerged as perhaps the most powerful political force challenging the NRA. At a Thursday news conference about city recycling, Bloomberg said he would spend money trying to defeat lawmakers who toe the NRA line.

 

"If they're going with the NRA, they're going against the lives of our children and of you and me," he said.

 

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Long Island

 

Fraternal Order of Police ceremony honors officers killed in the line of duty

By Unnamed Author(s) (News 12 Long Island)  —  Saturday, May 4th, 2013; 5:26 p.m. EDT

 

 

HICKSVILLE - A somber ceremony was held in Hicksville today to honor brave police officers from New York who have died in the line of duty.

 

New York's Fraternal Order of Police organized the ceremony, which was attended by law enforcement agencies from across the state.

 

The names of 11 fallen officers were etched onto a memorial wall at the fraternal order's headquarters that already has more than 1,300 names on it.

 

Two fallen officers from Nassau County were honored at the service. Officer Joseph Olivieri died after he was struck on the Long Island Expressway while responding to a crash. Also honored was emergency services officer Arthur Lopez, who was shot and killed while trying to arrest an alleged hit-and-run driver.

 

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U.S.A.

 

New efforts to curb cellphone theft

By TERRY COLLINS  (The Associated Press)  —  Saturday, May 4th, 2013; 2:41 p.m. EDT

 

 

SAN FRANCISCO — Disturbed by the nationwide epidemic of cellphone robberies and thefts, law enforcement officials across the country are looking to the wireless industry to help find a cure.

In San Francisco, where half the robberies were phone-related last year, District Attorney George Gascon is calling on major companies in nearby Silicon Valley to create new technology such as a "kill switch" to permanently and quickly disable stolen smart phones, making them worthless to thieves.

The prosecutor said he's recently had two discussions with Apple, maker of the popular iPhone, and has talked informally with Google, creator of the Android, the world's most popular operating smartphone platform. And, he also wants to meet with Samsung, the global smartphone market leader.

"We know that the technology can be developed to prevent this. This is more about social responsibility than economic gain," Gascon said.

The stakes are huge in the battle to combat cellphone theft. Nearly 175 million cellphones – mostly smartphones_ have been sold in the U.S. in the past year and account for $69 billion in sales, according to IDC, a Massachusetts-based research firm.

And, now almost one out of three robberies nationwide involves the theft of a mobile phone, reports the Federal Communications Commission, which is coordinating formation this fall of a highly-anticipated national database system to track cellphones reported stolen.

The FCC is also working with officials in Mexico to crack down on the trafficking of stolen mobile phones that make it across the border.

San Francisco's district attorney is not the only high-ranking big-city law official seeking solutions.

In Washington D.C, where than 40 percent of its robberies in 2012 involved cellphones, police Chief Cathy Lanier said new federal laws are necessary to require all wireless providers to participate in the national stolen phones database, which is now done by choice.

"This is a voluntary agreement and the decision makers, heads of these (wireless) companies may transition over time and may not be in the same position five years from now." Lanier said in an email. "Something needs to be put in place to protect consumers."

On the theory that an inoperable phone is as useless as a "brick," Lanier and Mayor Vincent Gray also have urged residents who have their phones stolen to call their carriers and ask that the device be "bricked," or disconnected remotely to prevent resale on the black market.

In New York City, police have created a smartphone squad and partnered with Apple to track down stolen iPhones using the device's tracking number. For example, when an iPhone is stolen, Apple can report to police where the phone is located, even if it's been switched to a different carrier.

Police said the city's overall crime rate last year increased three percent mostly due to the more than 15,000 thefts of Apple-related products – a majority of them iPhones – said Paul Browne, a police spokesman.

"We would've had a one percent decrease in overall crime if you subtracted the Apple thefts," said Browne, adding that police have coined the phenomenon, "Apple-picking."

"We're trying to protect the orchard, so to speak," Browne said.

He added that police often use officers as decoys using their own iPhones to catch would-be robbers and stings to catch those who sell them on the black market. About 75 percent of the stolen devices stay within the city's five boroughs and some have been tracked down as far as the Dominican Republic.

In addition, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has been working with U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, the FCC and CTIA, a trade group for wireless providers, on the national stolen phone database, along with six of the largest wireless companies.

Computer security expert Darren Hayes said law enforcement agencies, major corporations and the wireless industry have responded slowly to the spike in mobile phone thefts, leaving individuals as well as businesses vulnerable.

"Smartphones have become such an extension of our lives with all of our personal information on them and criminals recognizing its mass appeal," said Hayes, a professor and computer information systems program chair at Pace University in New York. "Professionally, there are some corporate network administrators who can control their company servers from their smartphone. While it's convenient, it could also put them at risk and could be the biggest source of data loss if they are stolen.

"We could see a potential nightmare emerging," Hayes said.

Jamie Hastings, a CTIA vice president, said the national stolen phone database is a step in the right direction and deserves a chance.

"To suggest that our members don't care about their consumers is completely inaccurate," Hastings said. "Our members are now focusing their energies on the database and achieving the start-up goal by November. The important thing at this stage is to allow our members to execute the plan that all of the stakeholders agreed upon."

The national database will be similar to a global database devised by GSMA, a wireless trade group based in the United Kingdom. Nearly 100 wireless companies across 43 countries participate in the overseas database for reported stolen mobile phones, said Claire Cranton, a GSMA spokeswoman in London.

But Gascon said a national network to track stolen phones comes up short and he is adamant that a kill switch is the best strategy to render a phone useless.

In March, he met with Apple's government liaison officer Michael Foulkes to talk about creating a kill switch technology. He described the encounter as "disappointing" but said a subsequent phone conversation with Apple's general counsel Bruce Sewell last month led to plans for talks that would include Apple's technical people.

Representatives of the tech giant did not respond to requests for comment.

"For me, a technical solution is probably better than just a criminal solution," Gascon said. "We can always create more laws, but look at how long it already takes to prosecute somebody at the expense of the taxpayers?

"If a phone can be inoperable at the flick of a switch, then a database will become moot."

 

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Report: ATF falls short in gun dealer inspections

By Lee Higgins  — Sunday, May 5th, 2013 ‘The Journal News’ / White Plains, NY

 

 

The ATF failed to inspect more than 58 percent of federal firearms licensees in the past five years because of “insufficient investigator resources” and “competing priorities,” meaning violations could go undetected for years, a recent Department of Justice Office of Inspector General report found.

 

And when the ATF decides to revoke a federal firearms license as it did in the case of the owner of a Connecticut gun shop, which sold two guns found at the Newtown, Conn., school massacre scene, the process can last longer than a year or two, the report says. As revocations are held up by government lawyers reviewing cases, the licensee can continue doing business.

 

The Journal News reported last month that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) revoked David LaGuercia’s federal firearms license after finding more than 500 violations of federal firearms laws and regulations at his store, Riverview Gun Sales in East Windsor, Conn. following inspections dating back to 2007.

 

Among the “willful violations” found at Rivervew was that store employee Krystopher Dibella, who sold the Bushmaster XM15 rifle used by Adam Lanza “sold ammunition on at least two occasions” to a man “he had reason to believe was a felon.” There is no record of any charges being filed.

 

None of the violations at Riverview, which the ATF raided days after the Newtown massacre, was tied to the store’s gun sales to Nancy Lanza, mother of Newtown school shooter Adam Lanza.

 

ATF spokeswoman Deb Seifert declined to comment Friday on any investigation of Riverview, saying in a statement that “ATF cannot comment on the existence or status of an investigation.”

 

LaGuercia’s lawyer Robert Altchiler also declined comment.

 

The 47-page OIG report released last month shows revocations are increasingly rare and the ATF has fallen short of its goal of inspecting gun stores every three to five years. In order to conduct all inspections of FFLs required in 2012, ATF field division staff told headquarters they needed 504 more investigators, the report says.

 

“As the OIG report recognized, the primary impediment to ATF meeting cyclical inspection goals result from chronic resource constraints outside the agency’s control,” Seifert said in a statement. The President's 2014 Budget Proposal, she said, would “provide ATF with additional resources with which to conduct FFL inspections.”

 

The report shows the number of federal firearms licensees increased from Fiscal Years 2004 to 2011 by 16 percent to more than 123,000. Although the number of ATF investigators increased during the same period by 22 percent to 624, the bureau said it wasn’t enough.

 

The ATF lists 4,022 active firearms licenses in New York state and 1,762 in Connecticut as of April. The largest categories are collectors of curios and relics, and firearms dealers. Other license categories include firearms manufacturers, firearms pawnbrokers, and makers, importers and dealers of "destructive devices" such as grenades, other explosives, and wide-barrel guns bigger than shotguns used in hunting.

 

The ATF listed 57 firearms license holders in Westchester County as of February, the most recent month available. Fifty were firearms dealers, five firearms manufacturers, one an ammunition manufacturer and one a firearms importer.

 

Rockland had 46 license holders — 42 dealers and four manufacturers. Putnam had 21 license holders, all firearms dealers.

 

The ATF revoked 71 licenses in fiscal year 2011, compared to 125 in fiscal year 2004, increasingly opting for other administrative actions. The report also shows that between 2004 and 2011, FFLs reported more than 170,000 lost or stolen firearms.

 

In addition to recommending that ATF identify ways to meet FFL inspection goals, the report recommended the bureau make sure investigators always follow up with in person inspections after doing inspections over the telephone to verify license eligibility. The OIG also recommended that ATF keep better track of high-risk FFLs and develop ways to speed up the revocation process. The report was a follow up to a 2004 OIG report that found ATF inspections were infrequent and of inconsistent quality.

 

The ATF noted in the report that it has already implemented changes, including a new case management system that allows attorney supervisors to more “effectively manage the revocation review process.”

 

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NRA chief: Boston-area residents were vulnerable without guns

By Andrea Lorenz (Reuters)  —  Saturday, May 4th, 2013; 7:37p.m. EDT

 

 

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Heavy-handed gun laws and a culture disapproving of gun ownership put citizens in a vulnerable position during the door-to-door search for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev last month, NRA Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre said on Saturday.

 

"How many Bostonians wished they had a gun two weeks ago?" LaPierre asked in a speech at the National Rifle Association's annual convention in Houston.

 

"Residents were imprisoned behind the locked doors of their own home, a terrorist with bombs and guns just outside," LaPierre said, referring to the police search in the Boston suburb of Watertown.

 

Reiterating a theme from earlier speakers, he said law-abiding gun owners were under attack through government moves to control gun ownership, despite the need for self-protection.

 

"Lying in wait right now is a terrorist, a deranged school shooter, a kidnapper, a rapist, a murderer, waiting and planning and plotting in every community across our country, lying in wait right now," LaPierre said.

 

"No amount of political schemes, congressional legislation, presidential commissions or media round tables will ever change that inevitable reality."

 

The convention is the first national gathering of members since last year's high-profile shooting sprees at a theater in Aurora, Colorado, and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

 

It also comes less than a month after the U.S. Senate voted down a measure to expand background checks for gun buyers, a step favored by U.S. President Barack Obama and most Americans.

 

An online Reuters/Ipsos poll released in January showed that 86 percent of those surveyed favored expanded background checks of all gun buyers.

 

A CBS News/New York Times poll released on Wednesday showed that 88 percent support background checks for all gun buyers and that 59 percent are disappointed or angry about the Senate vote.

 

Several demonstrations in support of stricter gun control took place across the street from the convention center.

 

 

MEMBERSHIP JUMPS

 

Speakers lambasted Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, among others.

 

LaPierre announced that the NRA had reached 5 million members, increasing by 1 million since December after the Newtown shooting.

 

NRA First Vice President Jim Porter told members that the background-check proposal would have made criminals out of honest gun owners.

 

"Selling a gun to a good neighbor, just like you would do today, becomes a felony, and the government takes your guns," he said.

 

Porter, who is expected to be voted in as the NRA's next president by board members on Monday, highlighted the role of the rank-and-file in the fierce political battle over guns.

 

NRA organizers expected 70,000 people at the three-day convention, which ends on Sunday. Saturday's events also included a sold-out "Stand Up and Fight Rally" featuring conservative TV and radio personality Glenn Beck.

 

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'N-bomb' drug stirs fear among police, doctors

By JJ Hensley (The Arizona Republic) — Sunday, May 5th, 2013 ‘USA Today’

 

 

PHOENIX -- A drug marketed as an alternative to LSD or mescaline could be among the most powerful and potentially deadly of the synthetic drugs that have inundated the market in recent years, police and physicians believe.

 

A 19-year-old from the West Valley was in a medically induced coma for four days after taking the drug, a synthetic hallucinogen known as "n-bomb," and would have died if he had not received treatment when he did, according to a physician.

 

Scottsdale police are investigating whether the deaths this year of two 18-year-olds are linked to the drug.

 

"That is certainly a possibility, based on what witnesses are telling us — that either this drug is involved, some variant of that," said Sgt. Mark Clark, a Scottsdale police spokesman. "Certainly, when anyone becomes deceased from a possibility of any of these new drugs that are out there, we are obviously concerned."

 

The first case in Scottsdale involved an 18-year-old high school student who died in late January after taking what he assumed was LSD.

 

Scottsdale police are also investigating the death of an 18-year-old Arizona State University student who authorities believe died after taking the drug last weekend.

 

In the January case, Noah Carrasco lost consciousness shortly after taking the dose, administered through nose drops. An onlooker thought Carrasco simply needed to get some fresh air and sleep it off, said Carrasco's mother, Susan Wadsworth.

 

A friend drove Carrasco around for a while but later became more concerned and took Carrasco to the hospital.

 

"He'd been dead already at least for a couple of hours," Wadsworth said. "They didn't know that that's what they were taking. My son was not a reckless person. He decided to try what he thought was acid, and obviously I didn't know this at the time. But he would never have tried something he knew was that dangerous."

 

Clark said it's the same story with all the synthetic drugs. Whether they're marketed as synthetic marijuana, cocaine or ecstasy, there is no reliable way to know what they are made of or how the body will react.

 

Ignorance about the drugs stretches from the streets to the crime labs, where scientists have to try to determine what substances are present in order for investigators to know what they're dealing with.

 

"One of the problems with all these drugs is that we don't know how they extract out of blood and how to recover them," said Vince Figarelli, superintendent of the Arizona Department of Public Safety's crime lab, where analysts have seen a couple of n-bomb cases.

 

"With most of these, there are no clinical trials," he said. "These weren't designed or approved for ingestion for medicinal purposes. There are no tests done on human subjects for us to rely on, or to go in and do an analysis of blood on the back end."

 

The drug was first synthesized in 1991 by a Bay Area chemist and was banned in the United States in 2012, said Dr. Frank LoVecchio, a physician at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center who co-authored a report on the unnamed 19-year-old's case.

 

A Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman in Phoenix said investigators nationwide believe the drug is sold online and most often imported from foreign markets. She said the substance gets the street name "n-bomb" because of the series of chemicals that are key ingredients: N-BOMe.

 

The active chemical in one popular version of the drug is referred to as 2C-I, but other variations of that chemical have been found as chemists attempt to avoid the federal government's ban on that ingredient.

 

The variations are a particular concern to Scottsdale police, Clark said.

 

"What you have is some amateur chemists who are trying to change the formulation of a drug that's been declared an illegal substance to try to stay ahead of the law," Clark said. "Kids — and it's mostly kids who are taking this — need to understand that this chemical variant could be changed by a very, very little bit and it can prove to be very harmful. Just because someone says that it's safe or someone says that it's acid, everyone's metabolism is different."

 

The effort to sell n-bomb and its variants as drugs similar to LSD or mescaline is nothing more than a marketing gimmick, LoVecchio said.

 

"They act very similar to methamphetamine," LoVecchio said. "Except this lasts longer, (has) worse fever (and) longer seizures."

 

The 19-year-old patient that LoVecchio treated was brought in after taking the drug, sold as "smiles," at a party. He suffered from seizures shortly thereafter, according to the medical report.

 

Physicians could not stop the seizures, so the teen was placed into a medically induced coma. For the next four days, physicians treated the teenager with a battery of drugs, attempting to bring him out of a coma each day only to have the seizures resume.

 

"The agitation and hallucinations resolved on hospital day five," the report states, and the patient was sent home the following day.

 

Two weeks later, he was still suffering from episodes of forgetfulness, according to the report.

 

Only a handful of fatalities have been reported nationwide, and physicians at Banner Good Samaritan wrote a report in February about the drug's effects on the 19-year-old, framing it as one of the first laboratory-confirmed cases.

 

LoVecchio said he has since seen similar cases, but he was not aware of any deaths linked to the drug.

 

A law Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed in April makes it illegal to possess one of the backbone chemicals in the drug and helps to ensure that the variants are illegal too, Figarelli said.

 

But it is a near-constant race for investigators to keep up with chemists who try to stay in front of the changing legal landscape when it comes to synthetics, according to investigators, making it more difficult for police to identify and spread the word about potentially lethal drugs that are making their way on the market.

 

"That is the biggest problem we face," said Sgt. Tommy Thompson, a Phoenix police spokesman and former narcotics detective.

 

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Few drivers nabbed by texting bans

By Larry Copeland — Sunday, May 5th, 2013 ‘USA Today’

 

 

Statewide texting-while-driving bans have become an increasingly popular tool against the deadly practice since Washington state introduced the first one in 2007; 39 states and the District of Columbia now have such bans.

 

But a driver stands little chance of getting ticketed for texting by state police in most of the nation, with some state agencies averaging fewer than one citation per day, according to a USA TODAY survey of state police agencies.

 

Tennessee state troopers began tracking texting-while-driving citations on Jan. 1, 2010, says spokesman Kevin Crawford. Through April 25, they had cited 946 drivers — an average of about 24 per month.

 

Since the Louisiana ban on texting while driving was enacted on July 1, 2008, the Louisiana State Police have written 1,059 citations, says Capt. Doug Cain. That's an average of 18 per month.

 

In North Dakota, where the law was enacted Aug. 1, 2011, the Highway Patrol has issued 117 citations — about six per month.

 

These totals include only those citations issued by state police or troopers, and don't count tickets by city and county police agencies. In some states, like Wyoming, Alabama and Rhode Island, the vast majority of texting citations are written by state police; in other states, like Oregon, local police write more tickets.

 

"No one seems to really know (how often police are writing texting citations)," says Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, which is in the middle of a major study to determine how many texting citations are issued annually. "I think there's a general perception that there isn't (much enforcement)."

 

In some cases, even the police don't know how frequently texting laws are enforced: State police in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia say they don't track texting-while-driving citations.

 

"The Arkansas State Police does not have a means to track the number of violator citations for this particular charge," spokesman Bill Sadler says.

 

Numerous surveys have found that people view texting while driving as dangerous, but still do it. The AAA Foundation's Traffic Safety Culture Index for 2012, a survey of 3,896 people of driving age, found that 81% viewed texting while driving as "a very serious threat to safety." But 35% had read a text and 27%had sent one while driving within the previous month.

 

Research shows that texting while driving creates a crash risk 23 times greater than driving without distraction. In 2011, the most recent year available, 3,331 people were killed and 387,000 injured in distracted-driving crashes. Those stats don't break out texting accidents, but texting while driving is considered the deadliest form of distracted driving because it diverts a driver's eyes, hands and mind.

 

Good enforcement of texting laws is critical in curbing the practice among young drivers, who fear a ticket more than they fear an injury or death, says Sandy Spavone, executive director of National Organizations for Youth Safety, a collaboration of over 70 groups.

 

But many teens don't view getting ticketed for texting while driving as a real possibility. "I don't know anyone that's ever gotten pulled over for texting while driving," says Kari Wissel, 18, of Mount Summit, Ind. "If it's really enforced and you know the cops could pull you over, you're not going to do it as much."

 

In the first year of Pennsylvania's texting-while-driving ban, the state police issued 340 citations — among 1,302 written statewide. In most states, the number of citations grows each year after a law is enacted.

 

"The totals can sometimes be misleading," says Cain, explaining that troopers sometimes cite texting drivers for some other offense, such as crossing the center line or speeding. "The number of citations may not be indicative of the actual traffic stops for texting while driving."

 

As texting laws began to proliferate during the late '00s, a frequent complaint from police was that they were difficult to enforce. "What the law has done is made people move the phone from the steering wheel down into their lap," says Sgt. Mike Baker of the Colorado State Patrol. "They're doing more to try to conceal it now that it's illegal."

 

Justin McNaull, director of state relations for auto club AAA and a former Arlington, Va., police officer, says that texting-while-driving laws are still evolving. "Many state laws are less than five years old," he says. "It takes time for police to develop and disseminate effective enforcement practices.

 

He says it's much easier for police to enforce laws governing speeding or seat belt use than texting. "You're going from watching a 3,000-pound vehicle (that is) speeding, to texting, where you're looking at a driver with a smartphone that weighs a couple of ounces," McNaull says. "Ultimately, the goal of traffic laws and traffic enforcement isn't to write a certain number of tickets. It's to change behavior. It's to discourage people from engaging in dangerous behavior."

 

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Immigration Enforcement  /  Illegal Aliens

 

National view: A tough E-Verify system is essential for legal immigration
OPINION: In 1986, Congress passed a large immigration bill based on a simple deal: amnesty for settled undocumented immigrants in exchange for stricter enforcement of the law in the future, to minimize new illegal immigration. The deal was not honored.

By: Mark Krikorian  (Center for Immigration Studies) — Sunday, May 5th, 2013 ‘The Duluth News Tribune’ / Duluth, Minnesota

(Op-Ed / Commentary)

 

 

In 1986, Congress passed a large immigration bill based on a simple deal: amnesty for settled undocumented immigrants in exchange for stricter enforcement of the law in the future, to minimize new illegal immigration.

 

The deal was not honored. The undocumented immigrants got their amnesty, all right, but the promised future enforcement never materialized.

 

It is this history that stands in the way of today’s drive for “comprehensive immigration reform.”

 

Although no bill has yet been introduced, the outlines are the same as 25 years ago: legalization — read amnesty — for illegal immigrants in exchange for more promises to enforce the law.

 

But recent polls show that most Americans simply don’t believe these latest promises from politicians. They understand what the president and many congressmen do not: If the law-enforcement tools to limit illegal immigration are not in place before an amnesty, we’ll just end up with millions of new illegal immigrants within a few years.

 

That’s why before even debating whether to give legal status to illegal immigrants, Congress and the administration need to take the steps necessary to ensure that any future amnesty won’t just be a prelude to more amnesties in the future.

 

First, the borders. For all President Obama’s boasts, the border is not secure. Much of the 650 miles of border fencing is designed only to block cars and presents no obstacle to people on foot. What’s more, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged recently it has no real way of even measuring the security of the border.

 

Finally, the most important change needed before talking about amnesty is to turn off the magnet of jobs.

 

A big step in that direction would be the universal use of an online tool for companies to check whether new hires are legal. Called E-Verify, this free, simple system is still only voluntary; until all employers have to use it to verify the routine hiring paperwork they already file, the ability to get a job will continue to draw people to settle here illegally.

 

Promises to enforce the border after an amnesty are meaningless. Those illegal immigrants who might truly warrant an amnesty are going to have to wait until politicians earn back the public’s trust on the matter of immigration security.

 

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Homeland Security

Stay calm, all is hell!

By MICHAEL GOODWIN — Sunday, May 5th, 2013 ‘The New York Post’

(Op-Ed / Commentary)

 

 

After every terror plot since 9/11, officials rushed to calm the public by saying the plotters were not directly working for al Qaeda or another known organization. They used phrases like “one off,” an “isolated extremist” or, in the Boston case, “self-radicalized” to downplay the threat.

 

Even when they were wrong — the underwear bomber had training in Yemen — the aim was to assure Americans there was no imminent danger of another large- scale horror like 9/11. The emphasis on individuals working alone was meant to suggest that even if they had succeeded, there would not have been mass casualties.

 

In other words, keep calm and carry on.

 

Boston changes everything. The first successful attack in the homeland against civilians since 9/11 seems finally to be opening eyes in Washington about a growing danger of a second wave of terrorism.

 

And so while President Obama’s claim that the Tsarnaev brothers were “self-radicalized” aimed to soothe, something else he said sends a very different and alarming message.

 

“One of the dangers that we now face are self-radicalized individuals who are already here in the United States,” the president said, adding that their plots “are in some ways more difficult to prevent.”

 

In other words, be afraid because we’re likely to get hit again.

 

His remarks were a response to whether the FBI could have stopped the bombing because Russia had warned two years ago that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a radical Islamist. Part of Obama’s answer was self-serving — al Qaeda has been weakened — but the remainder suggests he believes it’s time to give more attention to homegrown terrorists.

 

Belatedly, he’s right, as the Boston case and all 16 plots disrupted in New York prove. Partly because we are on offense overseas, and because our society is open, the homeland is a relatively easy target for terrorists already here.

 

The idea is not new — the New York Police Department, with Mayor Bloomberg’s blessing, did a study on homegrown radicals in 2007 and its surveillance of mosques and Muslim communities was designed in response. And Long Island Republican Pete King has warned for years about the danger of radical Muslims living in the United States.

 

Not incidentally, Bloomberg, the NYPD and King have been accused of being anti-Islam. But Boston vindicates their foresight.

 

Besides, the question of whether terrorists are homegrown or have foreign links is not always so cut and dried. Repeating a pattern of other plots, the surviving brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, told FBI agents that they were inspired by Internet videos of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Islamist killed in Yemen in 2011. So even “self-radicalized” terrorists learn from global jihadists.

 

Assuming Obama’s comments mean the federal government and other cities will get more vigilant, they have a lot of catching up to do.

 

“Law enforcement and the military lack a well-researched and defined list of indicators and warnings associated with cases of violent extremism,” writes Cliff Watts, a former FBI agent and Army vet. In an essay for the Foreign Policy Research Institute, he argues there is often a step-by-step “process of radicalization” that begins with an introduction to an extremist ideology and ends with the resolve to carry out a violent act to serve that ideology. Watts cites “emotional triggers,” ranging from the death of a family member to professional or financial setbacks, as markers for investigators.

 

Creating a smarter law-enforcement checklist on radicalization is an idea whose time has come. But there is another action that must come first if the new focus is to make a difference.

 

As I have argued, Obama’s refusal to link Islam to the terrorists is dangerously misguided. It would bad enough if he limited his willful blindness to rhetoric.

 

But reports indicate that he and Attorney General Eric Holder have imposed their warped views on law enforcement through training manuals and procedures, handcuffing defenders and raising the odds that homegrown terrorists will succeed.

 

If Boston taught us anything, it is that one or two men can wreak havoc on a city and rattle the nation. Political correctness kills and every tool we have to stop the next Tsarnaev is a tool we must use.

 

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                                                          Mike Bosak

 

 

 

 

 

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